


A Shot in the Dark

by asoulofstars



Series: A Mess You Would Wear With Pride [4]
Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Communication, F/M, Friendship, Gunshot Wounds, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, I Love You, There's lots of emotions here, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27744622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asoulofstars/pseuds/asoulofstars
Summary: What happens when the love of Riona's life gets himself shot?
Relationships: Shawn Spencer/Original Female Character(s), Shawn Spencer/Riona Gallagher
Series: A Mess You Would Wear With Pride [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028376
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	A Shot in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during/after "Shawn Takes A Shot in the Dark". This episode is my favorite in the entire series, and there will absolutely be more related to this.

Riona swallowed hard, sitting in her office. There was so much going on in her head, and she couldn't keep staring at her computer researching .45 auto gunshot wounds. She couldn’t focus on anything. Shawn was in danger, and there was nothing she could do to help. How could she be so useless in this situation? She kept fidgeting, twirling a pen around her fingers. Her phone started ringing, and she stared at the caller ID. It was Shawn. She grabbed her phone, and she ran upstairs. If Shawn was calling, she knew that he would probably figure out how to give them information, so she knew that Juliet would need to hear the call.

“Shawn? Shawn, it’s me.” Her voice was almost hoarse, and her chest was tight.

“Hi, Ri,” he said gently. “This call is to say goodbye.”

Riona slammed the phone onto Juliet’s desk and put it on speaker. “Shawn, are you okay?” she asked. “Where are you?”

“Don’t ask me any questions, because I can’t say anything else. If you care about me, you’ll understand.”

“I’m listening,” she said softly.

“I’m not gonna be able to have much of a future anymore. But if you look back at where we were, I’ll be there, okay?”

“Back? What are you talking about?” she asked, chewing on her bottom lip, even as she remembered that night on her roof that she was fairly sure he hadn’t even told Gus all the details of.

“The wind chimes that I got you for your birthday, every time you hear them from now on, that’ll be me.”

He’d never gotten her any windchimes. He wasn’t making sense. “Shawn, we’re going to find you. You’re going to be okay.” He had to be. She needed him to be okay.

“Listen, before…before I go, I have to say one more thing.” His voice was soft, hesitant. It sounded like that night on her roof.

“What is it?” she whispered.

“I need you to know that I love you,” he replied.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and they slid down her face. “I love you, too, Shawn.”

“Goodbye, Riona.”

The phone call ended, and Riona stared at the phone. Gus and Juliet looked at her, and her chest ached.

“What did he mean?” she asked. “Nothing made any sense.” Riona wiped roughly at her eyes.

Juliet squeezed her hand. “I’ll call Lassiter.”

Riona couldn’t focus on the conversation, not until Lassiter gave Juliet a location. Juliet looked at Gus, who was already in silent agreement that he was coming.

“I’m coming,” Riona said.

“Riona, it’s dangerous,” Juliet replied.

“Gus is going, and he’s half a civilian. I’ve been through Academy. I know protocol. I’m coming.” Her voice never wavered, even as tears welled up again. “I’m not a paramedic, but I can tell how bad his wound is when we find him.”

“Okay. But you stay in the back and stay low.”

~*~

Riona threw her arms around Shawn when they got out of their cars. He leaned heavily into her, and she cried.

“I’m here,” he mumbled against her. “I’m here.”

“Let me see your shoulder,” she ordered, swallowing hard to force the lump out of her throat.

“Yes, Dr. Gallagher.” He stood up as best as he could.

Riona winced as she pulled back the makeshift bandage, and then she just shook her head and pushed the bandage back in place. There was so much blood staining his shirt that the actual wound was almost impossible to see. “You’re going to a hospital. Right now.”

“That sounds like a great idea.”

Riona draped his good arm around her shoulders and walked him to the car. He laced his fingers through hers, and he let out a low sigh.

~*~

Riona ran her fingers through her hair, and Gus put a hand on her shoulder. “Doctors want to keep him overnight, but they’re gonna send him home tomorrow. You want to stay with him?”

“Don’t you?” she asked, surprised.

“I’ll pick him up tomorrow. You two should have some alone time. Talk.” Gus shrugged.

Riona flushed. She sort of forgot that Gus and Juliet had overheard everything she and Shawn had said. She didn’t want to talk about it, though. He’d tell her if he was on the same page. She didn’t have to bring it up until then.

“You’re his best friend, Gus. You should be the one in there with him.” She put a hand on his arm.

“Riona, go on.” He gave her a gentle nudge.

Riona leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Gus nodded, and Riona walked over to Shawn’s room. He was asleep, and Riona sat down beside him. She took his hand in hers, and she just swallowed. She watched his chest rise and fall, and she listened to the heart rate monitor’s steady beep.

~*~

“You awake?” Shawn asked.

Riona blinked sleepily, like a cat, and she squeezed his hand. “Vaguely.”

Shawn brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Thanks for being there for me,” he said.

“Yeah. How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been shot,” he replied. “How’d you get Gus to let you stay?”

“He says we need to talk, but I just want you to heal.” She toyed with his fingers. “Can I look at your x-rays and any other images they took of your shoulder?”

“Of course you can. That’s your area. I would _love_ to have you look at it. Are you looking for something in particular?”

She shook her head. “I just want to see with my own two eyes that you are going to be okay.”

“Yeah, go for it.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Riona ran her thumb over his hand. She was just so happy to have him here.

“So, what happened to that guy you were dating after I started dating Abigail?” he asked.

Riona snorted. “Short answer: he wasn’t you. I…I’m not trying to wait for you to catch up, but he came over, watched a movie with me, and I went to show him my stargazing spot. We met at the planetarium; I thought he’d like it. But he didn’t care; he thought it was weird. You were interested in my constellations. He booked it out of there. Freyja also hated him.”

Shawn snorted. “Freyja is an excellent judge of character. And she’s a great conversationalist.”

“That she is. What happened to you and Abigail? It seemed like it was going good.” Riona leaned in closer.

“She went behind my back to meet my dad, tried to fix our relationship.” Shawn shrugged his good shoulder. “Didn’t really work out,” he said.

Riona squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “You going to stay all night?”

Riona nodded. “Gus’ll come pick you up in the morning.”

Shawn chuckled and then winced.

“Don’t they have you on pain killers?” Riona glared at the IV line.

“Minimal. I didn’t want any morphine.” He squeezed her hand.

Riona sighed at him. He brought her knuckles back up to his lips.

“I appreciate you a lot, Ri.” He yawned.

Riona yawned in response. “Just promise to be careful.” She scooted her chair closer and ran her fingers through his hair.

Shawn leaned into her touch like a cat. “Okay,” he replied.

Riona sighed and ran her eyes over him. Shawn just gave her a tired smile. She pulled her chair as close as possible. He kissed her knuckles again, and she squeezed his hand. She was just glad to have him safe and in the hospital. She just hoped that he could stay out of trouble.


End file.
